wheel shimmy-in turn

#1 08-25-2003, 10:39 AM

I don't get a shimmy going straight but if I hit a bump in a long fast sweeping turn the wheel starts to shimmy and will not stop until I slow down. I had the wheels balanced but no help. Car is 94 fwd with 85K miles.
Could it be shocks? No leaking and it feels firm. Tires near new.
Thanks in advance. I haven't align it in a couple of years.
Ray

#2 08-25-2003, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vabnay
I don't get a shimmy going straight but if I hit a bump in a long fast sweeping turn the wheel starts to shimmy and will not stop until I slow down. I had the wheels balanced but no help. Car is 94 fwd with 85K miles.
Could it be shocks? No leaking and it feels firm. Tires near new.
Thanks in advance. I haven't align it in a couple of years.
Ray

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be the front struts. I don't believe my struts were leaking, but replacing them fixed the problem. Make sure to get an alignment done at the same time.

I was also able to feel almost every bump through the steering wheel--sometimes the wheel would jerk going over bumps esp. on the highway and shimmy like you've described when hitting bumps in turns. Now, I hear and feel the bumps thru the car but the wheel is rock solid 99% of the time.

Good luck,
Dan

mbtoloczko · #3 08-25-2003, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vabnay
I don't get a shimmy going straight but if I hit a bump in a long fast sweeping turn the wheel starts to shimmy and will not stop until I slow down. I had the wheels balanced but no help. Car is 94 fwd with 85K miles.
Could it be shocks? No leaking and it feels firm. Tires near new.
Thanks in advance. I haven't align it in a couple of years.
Ray

It could be the struts, but not necessarily. My car did this sometimes after replacing all four struts. In my case, it turned out to be the crappy lugnuts I used with my aftermarket wheels. New bulge acorn nuts with a large seating area fixed it. Even if you have stock wheels and lugnuts, it may be worth checking the torque on the lugnuts. You may also want to look at the ball joints and the A-arm bushings.

Andy · #4 08-27-2003, 02:57 PM

Seems to be a common problem with the SVX.

Most Struts only last about 5 years, therefore all SVXii should be on at least the second set. As performance drop-off is gradual, the only change is really noticed when new are fitted and you are hit by the 'WOW' factor

SVXPILOT · #5 08-27-2003, 07:10 PM

Have you checked the ball joints. they will cause that if they are a little loose.